USS Des Moines (CL-17)
.jpg) Post card photo of USS Des Moines (CL-17), at anchor.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Des Moines |
| Namesake | City of Des Moines , Iowa |
| Ordered | 3 March 1899 |
| Awarded | 14 December 1899 |
| Builder | Fore River Ship and Engine Company, Quincy, Massachusetts |
| Cost | $1,065,000 (contract price of hull and machinery) |
| Yard number | 107 |
| Laid down | 28 August 1900 |
| Launched | 20 September 1902 |
| Sponsored by | Miss Elsie Macomber |
| Commissioned | 5 March 1904 |
| Decommissioned | 9 April 1921 |
| Reclassified |
|
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sold for scrapping, 11 March 1930 |
| General characteristics (as built)[1][2] | |
| Class and type | Denver-class protected cruiser |
| Displacement | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 44 ft (13 m) |
| Draft | 15 ft 9 in (4.80 m) (mean) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Sail plan | Schooner |
| Speed | |
| Complement | 30 officers 261 enlisted men |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | |
| General characteristics (1921)[2][3] | |
| Armament |
|
USS Des Moines (C-15/PG-29/CL-17) was a protected cruiser of the Denver class in the United States Navy during World War I. She was the first Navy ship named for the city of Des Moines, Iowa.
Des Moines was
Fore River Ship and Engine Company, Quincy, Massachusetts, sponsored by Miss Elsie Macomber; and commissioned on 5 March 1904.[4]
She was designated PG-29 on 7 July 1920, and redesignated CL-17 on 8 August 1921.[4]
Service history
Commissioning & pre-war
In June and July 1904 Des Moines cruised in the
North Atlantic Fleet. With this force she cruised in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in target practice and other exercises, making surveys, and protecting American interests.[4]
Des Moines returned to
Annapolis in April 1906, and the Naval Review for President Theodore Roosevelt in Oyster Bay in September 1906.[4] In 1908, Templin Potts took command of the ship.[citation needed
]
Between 15 April 1910 and 23 January 1911, Des Moines cruised the coast of
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for Alexandria, Egypt.[4]
World War I
Between 26 May 1915 and 25 April 1917, Des Moines protected American citizens and interests threatened in the
Cruiser Force of the Atlantic Fleet for duty escorting merchant convoys from New York and Norfolk, Virginia, to their rendezvous in the Atlantic with destroyers which took up the escort job. In addition to eight such voyages, Des Moines voyaged to Sydney, Nova Scotia, on escort duty, and trained armed guard crews.[4]
While undergoing repairs at New York in January 1919, Des Moines was sent to sea to aid in rescue operations at the scene of the grounded Northern Pacific. All of the fast
Bolshevik Revolution, and carried home American troops who had served around Archangel, returning to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on 27 October.[4]
Post war & decommissioning
Des Moines cruised off
Portsmouth Navy Yard. There she was decommissioned 9 April 1921, and sold for scrapping on 11 March 1930.[4]
References
- ^ "Ships' Data, U. S. Naval Vessels". US Naval Department. 1 January 1914. pp. 40–47. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
- ^ a b Toppan, Andrew (8 September 1996). "US Cruisers List: Protected Cruisers and Peace Cruisers". Hazegray.org. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
- ^ "Ships' Data, U. S. Naval Vessels". US Naval Department. 1 July 1921. pp. 60–67. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Des Moines I (C-15)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- Photo gallery of USS Des Moines (C-17) at NavSource Naval History
- Story about the Fore River Shipyard, discussing the USS Des Moines Archived 2 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine